A Secret to Success as a Working Mom: Turn Burn Out Into Bliss and Embrace Joy

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Last weekend my youngest was committed to going to the "Water Steps" a man-made water fall in Pittsburgh by the rivers. (Fun Fact: Three rivers converge in Pittsburgh--The Ohio River, The Monongahela River, and the Allegheny River.)  He kept asking. I knew he was serious when he said, "If you won't take me, I'll ask  daddy!" Given that it was highly unlikely that would happen on an unscheduled day, I relented. So, we went. It wasn’t planned in the way most things in my life are. No calendar block. No checklist. No “productive” purpose attached. And, so in some respects it was uncomfortable. And yet, it seemed necessary. It was the idea of my 8-year-old—offered with the kind of urgency only children possess when something is profoundly important to them.
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Wet T-Shirts and Other Embarassing Things...

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In addition to the deep and the tragic, a lot of funny things happen in Chaton’s World.

Today, I inadvertently found myself on display in a wet t-shirt at the Post Office. Despite promising my life coach that I would stop procrastinating, alas I have not. So, even though I knew that I needed to go to the Post Office after work I ate dinner and watched the news instead of going straight to the Post Office. I thought that I had time for everything. And besides, I was hungry and the sun was shining.

Suddenly, it was clear that I had run out of time. Out of nowhere, it got dark, the sky opened up, and I still had to go to the Post Office. I had to pay a fine associated with another lapse in judgment—speeding in Virginia where they have the steepest penalties. The fine was due so there was no turning back. Also, the rain was coming down in sheets so an umbrella would have been futile.

So, I dashed to my car, drove to the Post Office and ran in to handle my business. Once inside I realized that I had sacrificed my modesty to avoid fines and Fed Ex charges. As soon as I entered the Post Office one of the workers began staring at me. I became aware that my chest was shouting “hello” to him and to everyone else and everyone else. When I got up to the counter, he waited on me with a smirk in his eyes, which struggled to look at mine.

Eventually, I left the Post Office with my task completed. Just in case I left some of my dignity there, I’ll buy my stamps on-line for a while…
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